.htaccess file on localhost - apache

Question

I have a localhost on ubuntu 16. In the root localhost directory (/var/www/html/) i put this htaccess file.
AddDefaultCharset utf-8
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^index?$ index.php
When I type localhost/index apache says me
The requested URL /index was not found on this server.
Is that an error in Apache configuration?
Basicly I want to make redirects to index.php in the root of my site and here I want to parse something like this localhost/cart/item/1 to array and then realize MVC. I am new in web dev and do not realy understand how can I do it, please help me.

Answer 1

You have to enable the interpretation of such dynamic configuration files (".htaccess" style files) first. They are disabled by default, since they slow down the server considerably. Usually it is preferable to place such rules directly in the servers static configuration files.
To enable them take a look at the AllowOverride command: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/core.html#allowoverride
<Directory "/var/www/html">
AllowOverride All
</Directory>
So since you have to modify that configuration anyway... why don't you place your rewrite rules in there too? Easier, more robust and faster too...
Apart from that it sometimes is a good idea to implement rewrite rules in such way that they work in both locations, the http servers (virtual) host configuration and dynamic configuration files:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^/?index/?$ index.php [L]
And a general hint: you should always prefer to place such rules inside the http servers host configuration instead of using dynamic configuration files (".htaccess"). Those files are notoriously error prone, hard to debug and they really slow down the server. They are only provided as a last option for situations where you do not have control over the host configuration (read: really cheap hosting service providers) or if you have an application that relies on writing its own rewrite rules (which is an obvious security nightmare).

Answer 2

Maybe you need to create a folder, and then, work in your application inside there. Ex:
Create a var/www/html/project;
Put yout .htaccess inside;
Work with your application inside that folder.